Mitch,
exhausted after working at the beach all day, decides to go to Beach
Front Bar & Grille down the road for a drink. He knows everyone
in the bar as he often goes to Beach Front to unwind. Mitch pulls up
to his normal parking spot to park his cherry red corvette. He
normally looks back to check and see if it's locked, but before he
could do that, something caught his eye. It was a car. One he'd never
seen before. It was shiny and sleek. He thought to himself "The
owner of this car must be pretty rich".
After a moment, he looks down and dusts
himself off. Patting at his shorts then reaches up to adjust his
shirt and run his fingers though his hair a bit.

He
grabs a stick of chewing gum and pops it in his mouth, then takes
his sunglasses off and puts them in his shirt pocket. "Ok,"
he thinks, "all seems to be in place." and starts to walk toward
the Beach Front's entrance door.

It's
another busy night. Much like it normally is. Mitch grabs the door
and walks in, the bell on the door chimes. As usual everyone
automatically looked up from what they were doing to see who entered.
The regulars there are quick to greet Mitch with their friendly
hellos, backslaps and nods.

Mitch
walks to his normal booth and sits down; Sabrina, the head barmaid,
is quick to get his order.

" Hi Rina, I'll have
the usual."

"Ok
Mitch. One vodka on the rocks coming right up."

Rina
is only gone momentarily and returns with his drink. "So how was
your day today, Mitch?" She inquires casually.

"Exhausting
to say the least! The number of vacationing tourists has increased
since yesterday. I sure am glad I'm done working for the day!
Thankfully only minor 'rescues' today" He replies.

"Well
it's good to see you are still keeping the crowds safe. Let me know
if you need anything else." She says as she walks away.

Mitch
nods and sits back recounting some of the day's activities. He's
suddenly distracted from his thoughts by the
smell of an alluring perfume. A smell so intense so sweet he looked
around to see where it was coming from.

There
in the booth directly across from him was a woman. She was one he'd
never seen before at Beach Front. Instantly he wonders if she's the
owner of the mystery car he spotted in the parking lot.

He
looks over at the woman and notices her long flowing black hair.

She's
looking down into her drink as if she is in deep thought.

She
has a mysterious aura about her he can't really describe or get
a fix on yet. She's dressed all in black. Her dress is long and
slender, fitting her form perfectly like it was made just for
her. He also noticed she was wearing an old broach. It was pinned
high up on her shoulder. It was beautiful and looked like a
sterling silver heart embedded with jewels.

At
that moment she reaches up and lightly touched the broach.

It
was like it had great meaning to her, the way her fingers
lightly brushed across the broach.

She
reaches for her small black beaded handbag and takes out a small
mirror.

He
watches her as she does a quick assessment of herself. Appearing
satisfied with what she sees she puts the mirror back into the purse.
This gesture, as simple as it was only intrigued Mitch
more. Mystified of her presence he wondered if she noticed him
looking at her.

Before
he could get the nerve up to go over to her booth and introduce
himself her cell phone rings. She answered it as soon as it rang,
almost like she was expecting the call. He can hear her but only
faintly. He can't make out what she's saying but he can tell her
voice is soft and sweet. She
was only on for about 5 minutes before hanging up. Puzzled because
her face remained masked of expression. No particular emotion showing
and no way to tell if she was happy or sad. She reaches back into her
beaded handbag putting the phone away and grabbing her keys. She
waves down Maria for her check and pays with a credit card. Mitch
watches her as she leaves and gives her just enough time before
following her.

He
was right. The car he spotted earlier tonight was hers. He watched as
she unlocked her car and drives off.

He
walked back into the bar looking for Maria. Across the room he spots
Maria at another table serving customers.
Mitch walks over so he can catch her as
soon as she is done. A moment later Maria turns around and almost
bumps into Mitch. Startled she said "Oh sorry about that Mitch. I
didn't know you were there. Is there something I can do for you?"
Mitch asks her about the lady sitting across the booth from him. "Do
you know her?" he asks. Quickly adding "Can you tell me her
name?"

Maria
shakes her head and said "No, she's never been here before. I'd
be happy to look up her name on her tab and let you know."

He thanked her and said he would appreciate that. Mitch
waited there and within seconds she was back with the information he
was asking about.

"It
says on here that her name is Kathleen. Kathleen Richards." Maria
stated.

"Thanks
Maria I appreciate this. Is there an address on her as well?"

"No,
only a P.O. Box. Here I wrote it all down for you. Just remember you
didn't get this from me." Maria stated with a knowing smile.

"You
got it" replied Mitch "Would you please put my drink on my tab?
I'm heading home now." She said "No problem I'll take care
of it." As they both went their separate ways.

On
the way home a million things were going though Mitch's head. Who
was Kathleen talking to on her cell phone? Will I ever see her again?
He looked into his rear view mirror and noticed that his eyes were
red and irritated from being so tired. He just needed to go home and
get a good nights rest.

"Tomorrow
is a new day I'll do some investigating in the morning." Mitch
thought as he drove into his driveway.

As
dawn is approached, Mitch, lying in bed, heard the sounds of the
ocean's waves crashing as it tumbled onto the shore. The pelicans
were floating just above the water looking for the first catch of the
day. "Nothing like ocean front property." He thinks to himself.
He got out of bed and walked toward his sliding glass door that leads
out to the shore. He pulled back the shades to let the warm sunshine
in. It filled his room with warm yellow light.

He
stepped outside onto the patio to breathe it all in for a moment
before returning to the kitchen for his morning coffee. He grabbed
his favorite cup. It's blue with palm trees on it and the word
'Mitch' on the lower part of the cup. Two sugars and a bit of
milk is how he liked his coffee.

Mitch
walked back outside to his patio and sat on his wooden bench chair,
reliving last night's events in his head, when the phone rang. He
answered it with a 'good morning Mitch speaking'. It was Maria
from the bar. She told Mitch she learned more about the lady he was
asking about the night before. She said she was really busy at the
moment and couldn't talk for long, but she'd be off work that
night. If he wanted to stop over at her house that evening she'd be
home and able to fill him in. Mitch agreed and jotted down her
address. She lived uptown over on 715 Simbora Ave. on the left.

"Ok,
Got it! I'll see you tonight." Mitch said as they hung up.

Mitch
was glad it was his day off. He had lots of running around to do so
he decided to wait to see what Maria had to say about Kathleen
Richards before he did any further investigating. Mitch did a few
chores around the house to try to keep his mind off the millions of
things running though his head. He cleaned out his fireplace, which
is mainly for show purposes, but it needed a good cleaning in any
case. He finally decided to fix one of the stairs on his stairwell as
it had been squeaking for some time now.

Before
he knew it 3 hours had passed and it was approaching lunchtime.

He
knew he should eat but he was just not very hungry. He opts for a
salad with raisins and nuts topped with a raspberry dressing. After
eating he took a short jog on the beachfront. Nothing seemed to help
clear his mind any better than a good jog. He returned back home
after an hour of jogging and went straight to his walk-in closet to
get his change of clothes before he jumped into a nice cool shower.

He
picked out a casual pair of beige trousers and a short sleeve
pullover white polo shirt.

After
his shower Mitch went back to the patio to read the newspaper and to
get caught up on current events.

Nothing
much out of the ordinary was happening, pretty much the same old
things.

Mitch
looked at the clock. 4PM it read, he had enough time to catch a
segment on the History Channel. That was his little indulgence on his
days off. He was finally going to be able to see an episode that he
missed the first time around. It was finally airing again.

Somewhere
between the ending of that program and the beginning of another one
he dozed off. He woke up finding that it was 2 hours later and it was
nearly time to go meet Maria at her home. So he scurried around to
find his car keys, then grabbed her address off the coffee table and
headed out the door.

He
arrived at Maria's house and knocked on her door. She answered
immediately and invited Mitch in. "Wow!" He said, "You have a
great home. I love the Japanese flare you have going on here."
She thanked him and said she spent a few years in Japan and loved the
decor so much that when she moved back to the states she had to
incorporate it into her everyday life. Mitch could understand why.
He was impressed.

He
noticed Maria had also incorporated the theme into her casual attire.
Wearing a pair a denim blue jeans and a purple tank top with a
Japanese dragon on it and sporting a baseball cap.

"Please
have a seat Mitch, would you like a drink? Soda, water, or a beer?"

He said a glass of soda would be great. She handed him a
glass of soda and sat across from him.

"Ok
here's what I know. Last night after you left and after the bar
closed, the bar owner (Charlie) came in to check the nightly
accounts. I was wiping down the bar counter when I hear him say 'OH,
Kathleen was here?' So I walked over to him and asked if he knew
Kathleen."

"He
told me that they went way back. They were old college friends and
after college she moved to the Seattle area. They stayed in contact
throughout the years and kept updated on life's happenings and
such. Then he told me he was disappointed he missed Kathleen.

And
that he had no idea that she was in the area. I asked Charlie if
Kathleen was single. And Charlie told me 'Well… YES and NO'"

Before Maria could finish Mitch interrupts. "YES and
NO what does that mean?" He asked. Maria said "That's just
what I asked Charlie and this is what he told me. He said Kathleen
has been engaged to Bobby Fox. That's her 'boyfriend's' name
for about 5 years but he still has yet to marry her."

"He
said normally it wouldn't bother him so much but he's gotten a
very bad vibe from Bobby for a very long time. Being that he is so
close to Kathleen, he didn't want to butt in and start asking a
bunch of questions in fear it would ruin their friendship.

He also said he knows for a fact that she's not been
happy in a long time."

Maria
goes on to tell Mitch that Charlie said that ' Kathleen knows she
can confide in me anytime', so he's just been waiting around for
that day to happen.

"That's
all I know" Maria said.

Mitch
thanked Maria for the soda and information and said he would be on
his way.

As
they walk out to Mitch's car, Maria said "Oh yeah, one more
thing Charlie said he's going to call Kathleen and ask her to come
down to the bar sometime in the next few days. I'll give you a call
when she's there!."

"OK
Thank you, you've been a doll!." Said Mitch.

Mitch
got into his car and as he backed out of Maria's driveway he was
even more determined then ever to find out the mysteries that lie
behind Kathleen Richards.

"Definitely
must find out about this Bobby Fox character" Mitch told himself.

There
many guys on the force that Mitch was friends with and could ask for
some discreet inquiries. He decided to make a stop off at the police
station to see what he could find out.

'Danny
Boy!" Mitch says "Just the guy I wanted to see." Danny Looked
at Mitch and replied "Hey ole buddy what brings you down to the
station tonight?"

Mitch
asked Danny if he could look up some info on Bobby Fox. "He's
from Seattle." "Sure thing buddy, but I'm real busy on a case
right now so it may take a day or two. Is that ok?" Danny stated.

Mitch replied to Danny with a "yes" and said he
understood. He'd appreciate him getting any info he could as soon
as possible. Danny said "Alright then I'll give you a ring when I
find out some info."

Mitch
thanked him with a handshake and got back into his car. He headed
back home and realized that now it's a waiting game. Mitch arrived
back home and got into some comfortable sweats and rounded up his
paperwork for the schedules he had to work on for his employee's
working on it nearly 2 hours before he retired for the night. He
drifted off to sleep staring at the silvery moon and thinking of
Kathleen.

!MORE
STORY TO COME!!!!!!!MORE TO COME!

!MORE STORY
TO COME!MORE STORY TO COME!

SPECIAL
THANK YOU TO MY EDITOR JEN

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